Safety umbrella

ABSTRACT

A safety umbrella includes a top notch member fixed on an upper end of a central shaft and having a resilient tongue which extends downwardly to form a hook end with an actuated shoulder surface. A runner has a slot for retaining the hook end therein at an upper position. An operating sleeve surrounds and is axially movable relative to the runner and has an actuating friction block which is matingly engaged with the actuated shoulder surface at the upper position such that, when the operating sleeve is moved downwardly, the actuated shoulder surface is pressed to withdraw the hook end inwardly so as to disengage the hook end from the slot.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No.201110321224.9, filed on Oct. 20, 2011, the disclosure of which isherein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an umbrella, more particularly to a safetyumbrella with an operating sleeve operable to move a runner betweenupper and lower positions.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional umbrella, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,964,235, includes a runner slidably sleeved on a central shaft tospread and collapse a rib-and-stretcher assembly to which a canopy isfastened. A resilient tongue extends from a ferrule secured on an upperend of the central shaft, and has a distal hook end biased away from thecentral shaft to be retained in a slot in the runner when the runner ismoved upwardly for spreading the canopy. However, when a user pressesthe distal hook end for downward movement of the runner, the user'sfinger may get hurt, especially for children.

Moreover, wire ends of a fastening wire wound on the ferrule forpivotally connecting the ribs to the ferrule, and wire ends of afastening wire wound on the runner for pivotally connecting thestretchers to the runner expose may prick the canopy and the user's handand finger during opening or closing of the umbrella.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an umbrella which canbe operated safely to spread and collapse a canopy, and which has asimple and rigid structure.

According to this invention, the umbrella includes a central shaftextending in a direction of an axis, a top notch member fixed on anupper end of the central shaft and including a notched wheel, a ribassembly pivotally connected to the notched wheel for mounting a canopythereon, a runner sleeved on and movable relative to the central shaftbetween upper and lower positions and including a notch disc, anoperating sleeve, and a stretcher assembly pivotally connected to thenotched disc and the rib assembly so as to stretch or retract the ribassembly when the runner is moved to the upper position or the lowerposition.

The top notch member includes an upper shell which extends from thenotched wheel and which has a smaller dimension than that of the notchedwheel, and a resilient tongue which has a tongue body that extendsdownwardly from the upper shell and that terminates at a hook end. Thehook end extends radially to cooperate with the tongue body to form anactuated shoulder surface that faces upwardly. The notched disc has asurrounding passage which surrounds the axis and which is configured forexposing two twisted ends of a lower wire ring. The runner includes alower shell which extends from the notched disc, which has a smallerdimension than that of the notched disc, and which has a slot that isdisposed adjacent to the notched disc and that extends radiallytherethrough. The slot is configured to permit the hook end to beretainingly engaged therein immediately after an upward movement of therunner to the upper position by thrusting the hook end into the runneragainst its biasing action.

The operating sleeve has an inner sleeve surface which surrounds and isaxially movable relative to the lower shell. The operating sleeveincludes an actuating friction block which is disposed on the innersleeve surface and adjacent to the slot. The actuating friction blockhas an actuating friction surface which is configured to face downwardlyand to be matingly engaged with the actuated shoulder surface when thehooked end is retained in the slot at the upper position. When theoperating sleeve is moved axially away from the upper position, theactuated shoulder surface is pressed by the actuating friction surfaceto withdraw the hook end inwardly and radially so as to disengage thehook end from the slot, thereby allowing the runner to move toward thelower position. The operating sleeve has a shielding tab which extendsupwardly and which is disposed radially and outwardly of the notcheddisc so as to shield the twisted ends of the lower wire ring.

By virtue of the operating sleeve and the shielding tab, the umbrellacan be operated safely and conveniently without running any risk ofinjury to the user and the canopy during operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed description of the preferredembodiment of the invention, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a top notch member and arunner fastener of the preferred embodiment of an umbrella according tothis invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a runner of the runner fastener of thepreferred embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an operating sleeve of the runner fastener of the preferredembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment in anopened state;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from another angle;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodimentshowing an abutment of a surrounding abutting surface against anabutment shoulder surface; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the preferred embodiment of an umbrellaaccording to the present invention is shown to comprise a central shaft10 extending in a direction of an axis (L) to terminate at upper andlower ends, a top notch member 20 fixed on the upper end of the centralshaft 10, a rib-and-stretcher assembly 60 pivotally connected to the topnotch member 20 for mounting a canopy (not shown) thereon, and a runnerfastener 30 pivotally connected to the rib-and-stretcher assembly 60 andsleeved on and movable relative to the central shaft 10 between upperand lower positions for spreading and collapsing the canopy.

The top notch member 20 includes a notched wheel 21, an upper shell 23which extends from the notched wheel 21 and which has a smallerdimension than that of the notched wheel 21, and a resilient tongue 22which has a tongue body 221 that extends downwardly from the upper shell23 and that terminates at a hook end 223. The hook end 223 extendsradially to cooperate with the tongue body 221 to form an actuatedshoulder surface 224 that faces upwardly. A ramp 225 is disposed on theactuated shoulder surface 224, and is inclined from the hook end 223toward the tongue body 221. The notched wheel 21 has a plurality ofupper notches 215 formed in an outer surrounding surface 214 thereof andangularly displaced from one another about the axis (L), and asurrounding groove 216 surrounding the axis (L) and communicated withthe upper notches 215 for receiving an upper wire ring 71 that engages arib assembly 61 to be pivotally connected to the notched wheel 21 formounting the canopy thereon. Specifically, the top notch member 20 hasan upper shielding cavity 213 which is disposed on the upper shell 23and adjacent to the notched wheel 21 for accommodating two twisted wireends of the upper wire ring 71 exposed from the surrounding groove 216,thereby preventing prick injury to a user and the canopy.

The runner fastener 30 includes a runner 40 and an operating sleeve 50.

The runner 40 includes a notched disc 41 and a lower shell 42 whichextends from the notched disc 41 and which has a smaller dimension thanthat of the notched disc 41. With reference to FIG. 2, the notched disc41 has a plurality of lower notches 412 formed in an outer surroundingsurface 411 thereof and angularly displaced from one another about theaxis (L), and a surrounding passage 413 surrounding the axis (L) andcommunicated with the lower notches 412 for receiving a lower wire ring72 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) that engages a stretcher assembly 62 to bepivotally connected to the notched disc 41. The stretcher assembly 62 ispivotally connected to the rib assembly 61 so as to stretch or retractthe rib assembly 61 when the runner fastener 30 is moved to the upperposition or the lower position. The notched disc 41 has an innerguideway 44 which extends axially to permit insertion of the tongue body221 thereinto. The lower shell 42 has a slot 43 which is disposedadjacent to the notched disc 41 and communicating with the innerguideway 44. The slot 43 extends radially through the lower shell 42 topermit the hook end 223 to be retainingly engaged therein immediatelyafter an upward movement of the runner 40 to the upper position bythrusting the hook end 223 into the runner 40 against its biasingaction. In particular, the slot 43 has a larger width in acircumferential direction than that of the inner guideway 44 so as toform a pair of retaining stays 431 (see FIG. 2) therebetween. Further,the runner 40 has a flange 422 extending radially and outwardly from alower end of the lower shell 42 to define an abutment shoulder surface423 facing upwardly, and an axially extending key 424 disposed on theflange 422.

With reference to FIG. 3, the operating sleeve 50 includes a sleeve body51 which has an inner sleeve surface 511 surrounding and axially movablerelative to the lower shell 42, an actuating friction block 52 which isdisposed on the inner sleeve surface 511 and adjacent to the slot 43,and a shielding tab 53 which extends upwardly from the sleeve body 51.The actuating friction block 52 has an actuating friction surface 521which is inclined and faces downwardly to be matingly engaged with theramp 225 of the actuated shoulder surface 224 when the hooked end 223 isretained in the slot 43 at the upper position (as shown in FIG. 4). Theinner sleeve wall surface 511 has a small-diameter surface region 513which is fittingly sleeved on and slidably movable relative to the lowershell 42, and a large-diameter surface region 514 which extendsdownwardly from the small-diameter surface region 513 to define asurrounding abutting surface 516. An axially extending keyway 515 isformed in the inner sleeve wall surface 511 to be engaged with the key424 to serve as a key-and-keyway structure so as to guide axial movementof the operating sleeve 50 relative to the lower shell 42.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the runner fastener 30 in the upper position,i.e., in an opened state. In this state, the tongue body 221 is receivedin the inner guideway 44 and the hook end 223 is retained in the slot 43to have the actuated shoulder surface 224 abutting against the retainingstays 431 (see FIG. 2) so as to retain the runner fastener 30 to the topnotch member 20, thereby holding the umbrella in the opened state.

By means of the engagement of the key 424 and the keyway 515, angulardisplacement of the operating sleeve 50 relative to the runner 40 isprevented such that the ramp 225 can confront and be in slidablefrictional engagement with the actuating friction surface 521.

Referring to FIG. 6, when it is desired to close the umbrella, theoperating sleeve 50 is moved axially and downwardly. By means of thefriction engagement of the actuating friction surface 521 with the ramp225, the actuating friction block 52 can readily press the actuatedshoulder surface 224 to withdraw the hook end 223 inwardly and radiallyso as to disengage the hook end 223 from the slot 43, thereby allowingthe runner fastener 30 to move toward the lower position. As shown inFIG. 7, due to the surrounding abutting surface 516 which is brought toabut against the abutment shoulder surface 423, the runner 40 is moveddownwardly with the operating sleeve 50 to the lower position whilepreventing the operating sleeve 50 from slipping from the runner 40.

When it is desired to open the umbrella, by pressing the operatingsleeve 50 upwardly, the tongue body 221 is inserted into the innerguideway 44 from the hook end 223. The hook end 223 is thrust inwardlyagainst its biasing action and subsequently is retained in the slot 43when the runner fastener 30 reaches the upper position.

As illustrated, by virtue of the operating sleeve 50, operation of theumbrella of this invention is safe and convenient. The shielding tab 53is disposed radially and outwardly of the notched disc 41 so as toshield the twisted wire ends of the lower wire ring 72, and the uppershielding cavity 213 can accommodate the twisted wire ends of the upperwire ring 71. Hence, the umbrella can be operated safely andconveniently without any risk of injury to the user and the canopyduring operation.

While the present invention has been described in connection with whatare considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isunderstood that this invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included withinthe spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalentarrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A safety umbrella comprising: a central shaftextending in a direction of an axis to terminate at upper and lowerends; a top notch member fixed on said upper end of said central shaft,and including a notched wheel, an upper shell which extends from saidnotched wheel and which has a smaller dimension than that of saidnotched wheel, and a resilient tongue which has a tongue body thatextends downwardly from said upper shell and that terminates at a hookend, said hook end extending radially to cooperate with said tongue bodyto form an actuated shoulder surface that faces upwardly; a rib assemblypivotally connected to said notched wheel for mounting a canopy thereon;a runner sleeved on and movable relative to said central shaft betweenupper and lower positions, and including a notched disc and a lowershell which extends from said notched disc, which has a smallerdimension than that of said notched disc, and which has a slot that isdisposed adjacent to said notched disc and that extends radiallytherethrough, said slot being configured to permit said hook end to beretainingly engaged therein immediately after an upward movement of saidrunner to the upper position by thrusting said hook end into saidrunner; a stretcher assembly pivotally connected to said notched discand said rib assembly so as to stretch or retract said rib assembly whensaid runner is moved to the upper position or the lower position; and anoperating sleeve having an inner sleeve surface which surrounds and isaxially movable relative to said lower shell, said operating sleeveincluding an actuating friction block which is disposed on said innersleeve surface and adjacent to said slot, said actuating friction blockhaving an actuating friction surface which is configured to facedownwardly and to be matingly engaged with said actuated shouldersurface when said hooked end is retained in said slot at the upperposition such that, when said operating sleeve is moved axially awayfrom the upper position, said actuated shoulder surface is pressed bysaid actuating friction surface to withdraw said hook end inwardly andradially so as to disengage said hook end from said slot, therebyallowing said runner to move toward the lower position.
 2. The safetyumbrella as claimed in claim 1, wherein said notched disc has asurrounding passage which surrounds the axis and which is configured forexposing two twisted ends of a lower wire ring, said operating sleevehaving a shielding tab which extends upwardly and which is disposedradially and outwardly of said notched disc so as to shield the twistedends of the lower wire ring.
 3. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim2, wherein said notched wheel has a surrounding groove which surroundsthe axis and which is configured for exposing two twisted ends of anupper wire ring, said top notch member having an upper shielding cavitywhich is disposed on said upper shell and adjacent to said notched wheelfor accommodating the twisted ends of the upper wire ring.
 4. The safetyumbrella as claimed in claim 3, wherein said actuating friction surfaceis configured to be inclined downwardly, said resilient tongue having aramp which is disposed on said actuated shoulder surface, and which isinclined from said hook end toward said tongue body so as to be inslidable frictional engagement with said actuating friction surface,thereby facilitating the pressing of said actuated shoulder surface bysaid actuating friction surface when said operating sleeve is movedaxially away from the upper position.
 5. The safety umbrella as claimedin claim 3, wherein said runner has a flange extending radially andoutwardly from a lower end of said lower shell to define an abutmentshoulder surface facing upwardly, said inner sleeve wall surface of saidoperating sleeve having a small-diameter surface region which isfittingly sleeved on and slidably movable relative to said lower shell,and a large-diameter surface region which extends downwardly from saidsmall-diameter surface region to define a surrounding abutting surfacethat is brought to abut against said abutment shoulder surface, therebyfacilitating movement of said operating sleeve toward the lower positionwhile preventing said operating sleeve from slipping from said runner.6. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 5, further comprising akey-and-keyway structure which is disposed between said flange of saidrunner and said inner sleeve wall surface of said operating sleeve toguide axial movement of said operating sleeve relative to said lowershell.
 7. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 3, wherein saidnotched disc of said runner has an inner guideway which extends axiallyto communicate with said slot for facilitating insertion of said hookend when said runner member is moved toward the upper position.
 8. Thesafety umbrella as claimed in claim 7, wherein said runner defines apair of retaining stays formed between said inner guideway and said slotfor abutting against said actuated shoulder surface when said runner isin the upper position.